


Magna Somnus

by jlavisant



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Because I needed it, Feels, Gen, M/M, Other, my own ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 21:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12240600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jlavisant/pseuds/jlavisant
Summary: A different version of Ardyn and Noctis's time together after the final battle. enjOYAnd I am shit at titles so I mashed two FFXV songs together because I AM SUPER LAME AHAHAHAHAHHAA I DO NOT EVEN FUCKING CAAAAAAARE





	Magna Somnus

The time had finally come.  
Noctis stared over the edge of the citadel, through a broken wall in the throne room, to the city streets below. There, Ardyn waited for him, as he’d done so for ten years. No, as he’d done for thousands of years. And tonight, it all came to a head.  
He glanced to his unconscious companions, surprisingly grateful they wouldn’t be joining the final battle. Ardyn was right. This wasn’t a fight for them. He’d see them before this was all over, though. Or, at least, he sure hoped he would.  
The Chosen King thought of his father. He thought of Luna. He thought of everyone that had given their lives to ensure this chance to restore the Light. If he failed tonight, their sacrifices would have been for nothing, and Eos would be doomed to eternal darkness.  
And so would Ardyn.  
Indeed, there was so much at stake, and Noctis swore to prevail for the sake of everything. But what he kept to himself was his overwhelming desire to give Ardyn what he’d been denied for centuries, forced to live amongst men alone. Gripped with grief, regret, and anger, without a soul to show him a shred of mercy or compassion. During his time within the Crystal, Noctis was able to glimpse through Ardyn’s past. He witnessed his days as a beloved healer and was touched by his benevolence towards his countrymen. He watched him drink and dance with his friends and family. And he observed helplessly as Ardyn was painted a monster and brutally executed before the people he once served. For years after, Ardyn grieved alone, and begged for mercy upon the deaf ears of the Astrals, until he’d resigned to his anger and bitterness. Now Noctis understood where Ardyn had come from, and what he had been through. Was Ardyn really all to blame? What man would have come out better than he?  
The King of Kings raised his arm and summoned his sword, then hurled it into the streets below, warping along with it.  
Noctis had come for Ardyn this fateful night to bring him peace.  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
The battle was NOT what Noctis had been expecting.  
Ardyn put up a serious fight, certainly, but something about him was off. Something about this was too easy. The Accursed laid on his back, badly roughed up and bleeding through his tunic, though as an immortal he was hardly concerned. He stared at the inky black sky as he spoke to Noctis, wondering what was to become of him and the world now.  
Noct knelt beside Ardyn, who refused to make eye contact. He looked so calm for a beaten man. True, he was probably used to this by now. But tonight was no ordinary night, and Noctis felt something had been holding him back. Though, it was easy to guess why. If he’d won, nothing would ever change, and Ardyn must have known that.  
There wasn’t much time left.  
“It’s over, Ardyn.” Noctis reached out and brushed a strand of blood matted hair from Ardyn’s eyes. The Accursed twitched slightly at the soft touch, a movement not left unnoticed by the King. “It’s okay. It’s really okay now.” How does one comfort someone as emotionally calloused and compromised as Ardyn? Noctis was never good at this anyway but he knew he had to try.  
Ardyn scoffed weakly. “Is it? How nice… After all these years…. Now it’s ‘okay’.” He was being sarcastic. He had the right to be. Noctis shifted to sit on his knees and thumb a spot of blood from the corner of Ardyn’s lips. This caused Ardyn to react immediately, flinching from Noctis’s hand as if his fingers were electrified and staring at him angrily. But Noct kept his eyes warm and focused on his.  
“Listen, Ardyn.” Noct moved slowly as not to agitate Ardyn too much (which seemed silly, he had to admit, considering his state). He let the backs of his fingers smooth over the older man’s brow and down his jaw to his stubbled chin. Ardyn’s breath grew slightly rapid at his touch, but he was too weak to fight him off. He was seething at Noct. Had he the strength, he might have put the King out for good here and doomed himself and the world together over a such a small thing. It was clear to Noctis that Ardyn did not want to be handled like this. But Noct didn’t give a chocobo’s turd about that.  
Ardyn said nothing, merely breathed heavily through his nose and stared daggers into Noctis as the King settled his other hand over his heart. Sure enough, he could feel it in there, beating more heavily than what Noctis considered normal. Could be the adrenaline, or maybe that was a condition of being infected with the scourge? Impossible to say, but it was a relief just to know it was there. It made him more human. He was human. He’s just a man, Noctis reminded himself, and snaked his arm under Ardyn’s neck to pull him up slightly in a half cradle. The Accursed whined slightly, his body stiffening as Noctis moved to support his battered frame against him.  
“I know what happened. I saw it. I saw it all.” He told Ardyn while vividly remembering what he had seen, and it was difficult not to become overwhelmed over it all over again. It was hard enough the first time. “It might not matter to you anymore but… What you did was important. And I’m so… I’m so sorry. You never should have been put through this.” His eyes began to feel hot. It was difficult not to cry. It wasn’t like watching a sad movie that ends and everyone goes home to their regular lives. This was Ardyn’s life. And it was Noctis’s fate. This was personal.  
Ardyn didn’t say anything. He seemed somewhat shocked. He stared wide-eyed at Noctis, looking more uncertain than he’d ever appeared before him. Yet Noctis could feel the man loosen slightly in his arms as he looked into his eyes, apparently waiting for him to continue.  
Noctis still had a hand over Ardyn’s chest, the cloth of his tunic wet with blood beneath his palm. Just below, the deep stab in his midriff Noctis had dealt in the final blow gushed with more blood when Ardyn began coughing weakly. Stop dawdling, dammit, Noctis thought. You need to do this. He squeezed his arm around him tighter, and leaned in to press their foreheads together. “You’re not a monster. You’re just a man. And, even though I can’t make everything in the past right, I’m here for you now.”  
Ardyn’s breath hitched in a telltale sign of resisting tears. When had anyone not considered him a monster since his execution? And why wouldn’t the King, after all he’d done to him? Why did he have to be so humiliated in his final moments? And why was he so grateful for it? “You don’t really believe that-.”  
Noctis interrupted him quickly. “I do. I know it. I saw it, Ardyn. I’m running out of time. I came here for you. To bring you peace and to tell you... To tell you that I love you. What you did… is deserving of love.” The ring on Noct’s finger, the Ring of the Lucii, began to glow a brilliant blue as Noctis suddenly, and so inexplicably, pressed his lips against Ardyn’s. Even Noct was surprised at his actions. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to do. Just kill the Accursed, he thought? Bring back the Light? Bring a weary, broken man to his final rest. But this just felt right. Even Ardyn must have agreed, for he seemed to melt into the kiss. For a moment they were frozen, though not by the power of the Glacian or even the Accursed. It was as if the element of time slowed only for them. The space around them turned so radiant they couldn’t tell their surroundings anymore. Only each other. Ardyn could feel his veins throbbing, and he convulsed but held the kiss fast. And in that moment, both of them could hear the Oracle as though she were there.  
When the prophecy is fulfilled, those in thrall to darkness shall know peace.  
Eventually, it was over. The brilliant light faded. Something had happened.  
Ardyn coughed into Noctis’s mouth harshly and shook violently. Noct pulled back and tasted the blood Ardyn had spat up. The poor man was suddenly choking on his own blood, hacking and wheezing as yet more blood spilled from his mouth and his open wounds. As if he were…  
Noct pressed him firm against himself, hugging the now mortal and dying Ardyn as the life bled from him. Feebly, Ardyn brought his hand to his King’s face, but couldn’t keep the strength to keep it there. But Noct grasped it, and held tight as Ardyn allowed himself to succumb to his tears.  
“I’m… so sorry. I didn’t… I never… wanted… any of this….”  
“I know.”  
Both men wept and held to each other. Time now seemed to slip by mercilessly. Ardyn was fading. His body was growing lighter in Noct’s hold by the second, and Noctis wished with all his might that they could have just a little longer.  
“I love you.” Noctis said again, their time together now ending.  
“….and I…. you…” Ardyn’s voiced managed to carry before he let go his final breath, and vanished. And yet, his voice was still there in Noct’s heart. “Thank you.”  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
There was only one thing left to do.  
Noctis looked upon his companions. His heart was already broken, and now he had to say goodbye to the most amazing and inspiring men he’d ever called his friends.  
Prompto had been the first to reach him after he’d put Ardyn to rest. The usually chipper blonde knew something was wrong when he’d found him, though, when he saw Noctis slamming his fists into the pavement and screaming curses at the Astrals. Prompto caught his King in his arms and calmed him, and though he was curious he knew better than to ask. Gladio and Ignis followed shortly, helping to pull Noctis to his feet and bring him to a state of calm once again.  
And now, this was it.  
“Ignis.” Noctis approached his advisor, apart from the other two. Though blind, he immediately looked in his liege’s direction. This was first nature now.  
“Noct? What do you require?”  
“You and Talcott… You found documents about Ardyn’s history?”  
“Indeed. What we discovered was… Well, it was a tale you wouldn’t tell to children at bedtime.”  
“No kidding.”  
“I’m sorry?”  
“Nothing. Iggy... Please. Make sure this gets out. Don’t… Don’t let him be lost again. Please?”  
Noctis’s voice wavered with his sadness, and Ignis, who was very much used to telling a person’s tone by their voice rather than their face, caught it immediately. “Of course, your Majesty. He was… a hero.”  
“Yeah.” Noctis agreed, trying to sound somber. “He was.”  
Noctis climbed the steps to the Citadel, making his way to the throne room once more. He turned back to look upon his dearest friends once more. “Prompto… Gladio…. Ignis…”  
What he would give… to share this life with them. What he would give to allow Ardyn the life a man deserves. What he would give to have Luna and his father there with them all. What would he give?  
“Walk tall.”


End file.
